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Forums - News / General |
For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
| Topics | 2899 |
| Messages | 21065 |
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| Subject: | Tamiya |  |
| Date: | Jan 13, 2008 |
| From: | Bruce Probst | |
The book "Classic Kits" by Arthur Ward has a chapter devoted to Tamiya summarising their history. Apparently it was a Revell plastic tank kit (otherwise unidentified) in 1958 that inspired Shunsaku Tamiya to create plastic scale kits for the Japanese market. Their first kit was the battleship "Yamato" (which apparently sold very poorly), but after a while they took a gamble on making a tank kit.
"The German WWII 'Panther' was the chosen subject, its angular lines and clean surfaces ideally lending themselves to injection moulding and featuring none of the myriad complexities of a warship. Shunsaku decided to add an electric motor, something rival American kits lacked at the time. However, his major coup was in securing the talents of the famous Japanese illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki to prepare the box top illustration. ...
"The model 'Panther' was finally ready for sale by New Year 1962. A great deal rested on its success.
"... It sold by the thousand and repeat orders flooded in. ...
"With the release of their 'Panther' kit, Tamiya established a reputation for top quality, exemplified by Komatsuzaki's superior box art. They also stole a march on competitors because of the quality of their motorisation. ...
"The original 'Panther' kit also firmly established 1/35th as the standard scale for the majority of Tamiya's military vehicles and accessories. In fact the choice of this scale was almost accidental. It was adopted because it enabled the chosen electric motor to sit most comfortably within the 'Panther's' hull!"
("Classic Kits", Arthur Ward, Collins 2004) |
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 | Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Paul A. Owen - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - David Manning - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Tim Streeter - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Dry transfers - Letraset - Paul A. Owen - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . The Internet - Paul A. Owen - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - John Steinman - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Military Modeler - the first issue - Paul A. Owen - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Tamiya - Bruce Probst - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Johannes Allert - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Julian Marles - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . The resurgence of slide mold technology - Saul Garcia - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Al Bowie - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . 1989 Tamiya Late Tiger I - Roy Chow - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Gary Cooper - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Gary Cooper - Jan 13, 2008 |
| . . . . . . the local hobby shop / toy shop - Alex Borsboom - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Chris Oldfield - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Bob A - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . . . . FSM Tamiya Panther A article - Paul A. Owen - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . Reference Materials - Charles Harrison - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Quantity: I remember when I was ahead of the curve - roy chow - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Quantity: I remember when I was ahead of the curve - Rex Ross - Jan 24, 2008 |
| . . . World War 2... - Kip Rudge - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: World War 2... - roy chow - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . One visit to the LHS... - Andrew Herbert - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . Acrliyc Model Paints - John Steinman - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestones... - christopher benjamin - Jan 14, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: Milestones and History of the Same - Edward hall - Jan 15, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Milestones and History of the Same - Tim Streeter - Jan 15, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . New modellers - Paul A. Owen - Jan 17, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Discovery (Paul) - Edward Hall - Jan 21, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Milestone Events in Military Modelling - Arun Bauer - Jan 15, 2008 |
| . . . . . . 3D printing - Roy Chow - Jan 17, 2008 |
| . . . Hornet Heads - Glenn Bartolotti - Jan 16, 2008 |
| . . . How far back? - Michael Bedard - Jan 24, 2008 |
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